Even The Vampires Get The Blues

The silver light in his eyes narrowed. 'You want to become my Beloved?'

'No, not really.' Pain flashed over his face so quickly I wasn't sure if I really saw it or was projecting. 'That is, I want to help you. I like you, Paen. I like you a lot. I know you pooh-pooh any sort of emotional attachment in your lovers, but some level of it is important to me. I care about you. And I'd like for you to have a soul. So in that sense, yes, I was willing to be your Beloved in order to do that. But if you're asking if I'm madly in love with you…' I bit my lip.

'Well?' he asked, trying not to look interested but failing badly. Evidently he realized that as well because he gave up the pretence. 'Are you madly in love with me?'

'I am not head over heels in love with you, no,' I said carefully, honesty being one of my rules. I avoided thinking about the fact that chances were good I was soon going to be in that state.

'Ah.' Deep within him, for just a second or two, disappointment added to the blackness that threatened to engulf him. 'That's good. I'm not in love with you, either. But as for the other… er… I like you as well.'

'Right. So we're both on the same channel, then.' Ahead of us, the cop waved the car in front and us through the intersection. Paen shifted, a tiny frown pulling his eyebrows together.

'Exactly.'

'And I'm not your Beloved.'

He was silent for a second longer than I thought he would be. 'That's correct.'

'Sorry about stabbing your finger.'

He made a little gesture waving it away. 'It's nothing.'

Silence filled the car as we made our way down Princes Street and turned onto the street where my office was located. I directed him to the loading zone spot along the side that Mila had told us we could use.

'You sit tight and I'll go unlock the side door,' I said, pointing to the unmarked door along the side of the building. 'It's faster than going in the front way, and if you run, you shouldn't get too much more sun.'

'Thank you,' he said, his eyes brightening as I caressed his cheek.

'You're still a bit sunburned,' I said, rubbing my thumb on his cheekbone.

'It was worth it,' he said with a hint of a grin, and something within me burst into glorious existence.

'Yes, it was.' I got out of the car before he noticed that I was being flooded with strong emotion.

'You are not falling in love with him, so stop thinking you are,' I lectured myself sternly as I marched over to the door and unlocked it. I waved at Paen, holding the door open as he jumped out of his car and bolted toward me. 'He's a vampire. You can't save him. He doesn't believe in love. He's totally wrong for you, totally—ack!'

Call it elf sense, call it heightened awareness, call it Sally if you like, but something sent my peripheral awareness into overdrive as Paen ran toward me. The world suddenly downshifted into first gear, time expanding so that everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Paen loped across the tiny parking area, his hat angled to protect him from the sun. Beyond him, a dark-haired, familiar man rose from where he'd been hiding behind a large square trash bin, his arm swinging up in a slow arc as he shouldered a lethal-looking crossbow, turning his body so the metal bolt was aimed to intersect Paen's path. Next to him, clinging to the trash bin, a small spider monkey in a green striped suit sat busily unwrapping what looked like the remains of a candy bar.

'Noooo!' I screamed, even my voice sounding drawn out as I threw myself forward. I intended to push Paen out of the way of the bolt, but as I lunged toward him, my feet leaving the ground in a leap of distance they would never again surpass, the thought flashed through my mind that despite having just met him, despite the fact that he alternately aroused and frustrated me, despite the fact that we were clearly not in the least bit suited for one another—despite all that, I was willing to do whatever it took to save him.

Even at the cost of my own life.

Paen yelled my name as the bolt slammed into my shoulder, knocking me backward, flinging me up against the concrete side of the building. Hot, sickening pain swept through me, causing the world to spin off its axis. Paen roared something I couldn't make out, catching me before I slid helplessly down to the ground.

The last thing I saw before blissful oblivion took me in its arms was Paen's face, his eyes so dark they looked black.

'You've got your soul back,' I said.

Chapter 11

'Well, all I can say is it's lucky you're immortal.' The voice cut into the black abyss in which I was floating. It was female, familiar, with a posh English accent… ah. It was Clare speaking. To whom was she speaking, I wondered?

'Hrng,' a voice answered her. It, too, was female and familiar. I racked my brain for a moment to place the voice, realizing with a shock it was mine. 'Narf ?'

'You see? I told you she would be fine. Elves can survive all sorts of injuries.' Clare's voice was rife with authority. 'You're worrying about nothing, Paen.'

A dark Scottish voice rumbled around in my head, deep as the ocean and soft as velvet. Sam? How do you feel?

Confused, I answered, smiling at the voice. When did you drop Samantha and start calling me Sam?

He sighed. Is that really important?

Kind of. It's a sign of intimacy.

Sweetheart, we've been about as intimate as it gets, and you're making a big deal about a word?

You called me sweetheart! I said, my toes curling with sudden pleasure.

'I can see that I am worrying about nothing. Sam, you can open your eyes now. The bolt is out of your shoulder.'

Bolt. Shoulder. The man who tried to kill Paen!

'Ack!' I squawked, my eyelids snapping open as I sat up. 'Paen, are you—holy moly! What happened to you?'

A sudden zing of pain in my shoulder tried to claim my attention, but the sight of Paen standing in front of me, bloody and beaten, overrode all other concerns. The left side of his face was bloodred with what looked like a nasty burn, his eye swollen and starting to turn dark, a cut on his temple responsible for the blood cascading down the other side of his face. One arm hung limp, the sleeve of his long coat was shredded, while the entire front of his shirt was covered in dirt and blood.

'We were ambushed. How do you feel?'

'A lot better than you look. Your poor face! Your poor… um… what else is hurt on you?'

'Nothing. I'm fine,' he said, waving away my concern with a nasty-looking metal bolt. He saw me looking at it and quickly tossed it into the garbage.

'OK. What's going on here?' I asked, looking from Paen to Clare and on to Finn, who was standing to the left. Finn also looked worse for wear, although not nearly as hurt as Paen. 'Why are you guys so beat up? What happened to Pilar? And why am I sitting here now with just a dull ache in my shoulder rather than being rushed to the hospital to bleed to death like any normal person would do?'

'Oh, Sam,' Clare said, shaking her head as she wrung out a washcloth over a small bowl. She dabbed gently at a swollen spot on Finn's cheek. 'You never were normal. Now you're less so.'

'Pot calling the kettle black,' I said, shifting my gaze from her to Paen. My heart dropped a little at his battered face. I slid off the desk and ever so carefully touched his reddened cheek. 'Sunburn?'

'Amongst other things. The man who shot you attacked me with a two-by-four as I was trying to bring you inside. You're sure it was Pilar? I didn't see him clearly.'

'I'm sure. Beppo was there, too.' I took one of Clare's cloths to hold on the wound on his temple.

'Finn got the crossbow away from him before he could stake Paen,' Clare said proudly.